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Monday, November 26, 2018

Monday leftovers

It’s the guys who make the plays who get all the publicity,
all the glory on offense; the so-called skill players.

But without the guys up front, the plug uglies as I like to
call them, doing their jobs well, there is no publicity, no glory. Only misery
and finger pointing.

That said, the recent surge by the Browns’ offense can be
directly attributed to the offensive line, which has made the skill players
look extremely good to the point where they have become dangerous.

Baker Mayfield was joking (or was he?) when he said after
the upset of the Atlanta Falcons a couple of weeks ago that he felt “really
dangerous” when he awoke on game day.

The uglies have quietly and without fanfare led the way the
last three games, during which Mayfield has completed 74% of his passes, thrown
for 771 yards, nine touchdown passes and just one interception.

And here is the best part. Mayfield has not been sacked in
his last 109 dropbacks, or ever since the latter stages of the Kansas City loss
three games ago. Can’t remember the last time the Browns have allowed zero
sacks in consecutive games.

The Cincinnati Bengals almost got one in the Browns’ 35-20
thrashing Sunday, but a holding penalty on linebacker Vontaze Burfict wiped out
a Carlos Dunlap sack.

The ground game has also benefited since General Manager
John Dorsey moved Carlos Hyde to Jacksonville and forced the coaching staff to
elevate Nick Chubb from almost-forgotten status.

The rookie running back has responded beautifully, with
considerable help from the uglies, who have provided him with enough space to be
dangerous enough to take some of the pressure off Mayfield and the passing
game.

The offense has averaged 386 yards a game the last three
games, 132 of them on the ground, and scored at a 28-points-a-game clip with 69
first downs. It’s an offense the likes of which Browns fans have starved for the
last two decades.

Granted, the impressive numbers have been gained against
three bad defenses (Kansas City, Atlanta and Cincinnati), but Browns teams of
the past would have struggled against them.

The Atlanta and Cincinnati victories were gained with
impressive and arguably dominating performances by the offense.

It sure doesn’t look like a coincidence that positive things
are happening when the Browns own the football since Freddie Kitchens became
offensive coordinator following the firing of Todd Haley.

It seemed as though Haley ran plays designed more for the
talents of Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell, whom he coached
in Pittsburgh, not Mayfield, Chubb and a lot of young receivers.

Kitchens has virtually eliminated the seven-step dropbacks
and redesigned plays that enable Mayfield to get rid of the football quicker
and more decisively. He also has the rookie quarterback rolling out more often
by design where he becomes even more dangerous.

He also showed supreme confidence in the uglies right out of
the chute in the Cincinnati game, calling a screen pass to Chubb that gained 23
yards and sent a message that this game will be different from an offensive
standpoint.

It isn’t often you see a screen called on the very first
play of a game. The offensive line pulled it off perfectly, as perfectly as the
offense hummed the entire first half when it scored on the first four
possessions. Key blocks from Greg Robinson and Joel Bitonio paved the way.

Free safety Damarious Randall sounded a warning after the
game. “This locker room is very, very talented,” he said. “This team is very scary
right now.”

***

Chubb seems to have added a new skill to his repertoire, one
that was not expected, at least as a rookie: Catching the football.

He was rarely used in the passing game at Georgia, catching
only 31 passes in four years, 18 of them as a freshman. So no one really knew
whether he could make a successful transition to the National Football League
with regard to the aerial game.

He has been targeted only 13 times this season with nine
receptions for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The last two games, he is
perfect on six targets for 77 yards and the two scores. The young man can catch
the football and figures to be even more involved in Kitchens’ offense.

His touchdown reception in the second quarter from 14 yards
out was a thing of beauty and proved he can be clutch in the passing game, too.
Mayfield lofted the ball toward Chubb, who grabbed it, pinned it with both
hands against the back of cornerback Brandon Wilson’s helmet, lifted it and
secured it as he was falling in the end zone.

As for the ground game, Chubb checks in with 663 yards and
six scores and averages 5.4 yards a carry. He needs 337 more yards (or 67.4
yards a game) to make the 1,000-yard club, which seems like more of a
probability than possibility.

Kitchens called on Chubb 31 times against the Bengals, 28 as
a runner, and he did not look tired at the end, although most of his yards on
the ground were gained the hard way, between the tackles. He totaled 128 yards
with his 31 touches.

His indefatigable performances have reduced the number of
touches Duke Johnson Jr. gets in a game. It seems Kitchens is having as much
trouble as Haley fitting the more versatile Johnson into the offense scheme.

***

All head coaches preach ball security. The quickest way to
lose momentum is to cough up the football, especially on the ground.
Interceptions will happen occasionally because the quarterback throws the
football so often.

Putting it on the ground is an entirely different matter.
The Browns have excelled at ball security this season, especially in the last
six games, during which the offense has not lost a fumble. The only lost fumble
in that span was on special teams. (More on them later.)

Not since Mayfield lost a pair of fumbles in his first NFL
start in the Oakland overtime loss in week four has an opponent had a chance to
capitalize on a Cleveland fumble. Not
much is more dispiriting to an offense than turning over the football in careless
fashion.

Cleveland runners have fumbled the football only three times
all season, while the receivers have also fumbled three times. All six were
recovered by teammates.

***

Myles Garrett blocked a field goal attempt by Randy Bullock
on the Bengals’ first possession of the game. That, not surprisingly, is the
only special teams positive that came out of the game. From then on, it was a
typical special teams disaster.

The Bengals’ Alex Erickson returned three punts for 57
yards, the longest a 33-yarder, all due to poor tackling. Erickson also tacked
on 49 more yards on two kickoff returns, again due to poor tackling.

And what is a Sunday Browns game without a penalty on one of
their punt returns. Yep, you can add that one to the list. Another holding
call.

The only good that will come out of this is knowing special
teams coordinator Amos Jones will not be gainfully employed by the Browns next
season. Only five more games left. Let the countdown begin.

***

Finally . . . The
gadget play Kitchens called at the end of the third quarter, a jet sweep by
Breshad Perriman that lost 12 yards, should be ripped out of the playbook and
permanently destroyed. It had no business being called with a 35-14 lead. . . .
Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton entered the game with 15 touchdown passes and
no picks in the last six games against Cleveland. Randall ended that in a hurry
midway through the second quarter... .
. Tight end David Njoku has caught nine of 10 passes thrown his way in the last
three games after coming up empty in the Pittsburgh loss. . . . A. J. Green not
dressing because of a toe injury certainly made it easier on the Cleveland secondary.
The big Bengalswide receiver has
hurt the Browns plenty in the past. . . . Mayfield threw five interceptions in
his first two games and just two in the next five.. . . . The Bengals
registered only one quarterback hit against the Cleveland offensive line. . . .
Duke Johnson Jr. touch watch: Two carries, 16 yards; one reception, 23 yards.
Total: Three touches, 39 yards. Season totals: 28 carries, 146 yards; 34
receptions, 335 yards. Total:62
touches, 481 yards, 7.76 yards a touch.